Search for gay history to create 'virtual museum'

Curators, librarians and archivists across Britain are being asked to scour their collections in search of documents and items relating to the lives of gay people, with a view to establishing a "virtual museum" of lesbian and gay history.

Backed by the museums documentation watchdog, MDA, the group Proud Heritage this week began sending out a two-page survey requesting that institutions throughout the country list the gay and lesbian documents and artefacts in their collections. "For the first time ever, we are asking museums, libraries and archives throughout Britain to revisit their holdings and reveal what they have that is queer," said Proud Heritage's director Jack Gilbert. "At the moment these are not classified correctly, or held completely out of context and never see the light of day."

One of Proud Heritage's board members has located a possible first exhibit for the museum in the archive of HM Prisons - the doors to Oscar Wilde's cell in Reading jail. Other possible exhibits include badges and placards from the campaign to repeal Section 28 and items from regimental archives relating to gay officers.

Proud Heritage has also been working closely with local authorities. At the Lllangolen Museum in Denbighshire, north Wales, for instance, there is an exhibit commemorating the lives of Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby. Known locally as the Ladies of Llangollen, they lived together in a small cottage from 1819 until their deaths in 1829 and 1831, and were renowned for wearing dark riding habits, an eccentric choice of dress for the time.

"They would never have used the word lesbian to describe their relationship but there is no question that they lived together and shared the same bed," said Mr Gilbert. "We think there may well be similar examples in other archives, but because people didn't use words like lesbian and gay 200 years ago archivists have either overlooked it or simply don't realise it's there."

According to Mr Gilbert the aim is to establish a national database first, featuring a few key virtual exhibits. Once the database was up and running, he said, Proud Heritage would look for a site for a permanent museum, possibly in the King's Cross area of London.

The MDA's backing is significant as it is the lead organisation in the heritage sector and is already working closely with the London Assembly to unearth similar "hidden histories" in the collections of London curators and archivists.

The gay human rights group OutRage! and the gay equality and justice organisation Stonewall also welcomed the project. "The Holocaust anniversaries of 2005 have reminded us once again of how little of the lives of lesbian, gay and bisexual people are recorded and how an understanding both of our past and history ... is a key to good community relations across Britain in the 21st century," said Stonewall's chief executive Ben Summerskill.